Rone is possibly the most prolific quality street artist in Melbourne and widely famous for his silo art. Born under the name Tyrone Wright in Geelong, he specialises in depicting large scale faces of beautiful women. Often in old buildings that are about to be demolished. He was recently given the challenge to create a temporary installation in Burnham Beeches, the expansive art deco mansion of the Alfred Nicholas family set among the towering gums and fern trees near where we live in the Dandenongs. Rather than being demolished, Burnham Beeches is about to be redeveloped by celebrity chef Shannon Bennet and Heritage developer Adam Garrison.

Rone says “It was totally stripped out and it was more of a construction site”. He treated the building like a blank slate, and set about recreating his imagined vision of its interiors. The result is a haunting picture of abandoned opulence, housing hundreds of objects, from chandeliers and a grand piano to vintage shampoo bottles. The wallpaper has been custom-designed and printed, the ceilings have been transformed with a patina that looks like black mould, and even the “dust” has been artfully arranged. And then the – piece de resistance – the “library”. The most elaborate of the rooms in the project, this one has been flooded in a difficult operation that had to be done twice — because it leaked the first time.

.

Rone describes it as “a kind of open-house viewing” that gives you a glimpse of the life of an imagined family, and foments a sense of mystery around why they might have left. This is more a fantasy story than it is a documentary, and an essay on the ephemeral nature of Empires. The exhibition might suggest that buildings, possessions and furniture die, but the memory of beautiful women lives on. Enjoy good food, good wine, good coffee and good friends while you may!